EZ Command Control Center stopped working

[jblasingame]

I have a brand new EZ CCC (44901) and when I hooked it up to my track the first time, it ran the engine for a while, but within about 30 minutes, it stopped working and the CC started to have a burning ballast smell.  I just plugged it in as shown in the instructions. The unit is completely dead now. What happened?  What do I do? Jim

[fieromike]

I have a brand new EZ CCC (44901) and when I hooked it up to my track the first time, it ran the engine for a while, but within about 30 minutes, it stopped working and the CC started to have a burning ballast smell.  I just plugged it in as shown in the instructions. The unit is completely dead now. What happened?  What do I do? Jim

Jim,
It sounds as if you let the "Magic Smoke" out!
Check your warranty card and follow the instructions for sending the unit back for repair/replacement.

Mike

[jblasingame]

Thanks, Mike. Did I do something wrong?  Jim

[Jim Banner]

Did you do something wrong?  No, not likely.  There are only two things that can normally damage an E-Z Command - plugging the power pack into the wall before you plug it into the back of the commander, and connecting both the E-Z Command and some other power source (dc power pack, etc.) to the tracks at the same time.  The first, if it causes any damage at all, instantly stops the power pack from working.  The second can damage the E-Z Command, the dc power pack, or both.  But I would expect the damage to occur rather more quickly than half an hour.

I agree with Mike - send it back to Bachmann, assuming you bought it new from a Bachmann dealer in the first place.

Jim (the one from the frozen north)

[the Bach-man]

Dear Jim,
Make sure the wall power is the last thing you plug in. I've smoked a couple by plugging in the track jack last instead of first.
Give service a call.
Happy Holidays!
the Bach-man

[Rashputin]

   I have one that did the same thing, failed after about half an hour.  I've had it around here boxed up to send back for, oh, maybe a year.  I'll be sending mine back as well since this came up and reminded me of it.  Well, this and Christmas, which is when I was using it for running the tree trains.  Anyhow, what's the failure rate on the simple DCC units?  I know several people who said they had one that failed although I don't know whether they sent it back or not.

  Regards

[Jim Banner]

Strictly speaking, the failure rate on electronics is 100%.  You run it long enough, eventually it fails.  Kind of like life itself.

What we are really talking about here is the early failure rate - it works when it comes off the assembly line but fails shortly after.  There are many definitions of "shortly after" but one practical one is to plot a histogram of failures - how many failled the first day, how many the second day, and so on.  Typically, this starts off quite high, perhaps 5% that fail during the first day.  If we assume all units are tested before shipping, then that first day's failures includes failures in shipping, handling and storage.  And it includes the high infant mortality rates of all the components in the unit.  Before we all get too smug about receiving a "bad" unit, first day failures also include failures due to miss handling or miss application by the user, usually caused by failure to read the manual.  This high initial failure rate drops off rather quickly and eventually becomes quite low.  For equipment in regular use, this might take one or two months.  The manufacturer often offers a 30 or 60 day warranty which is his way of saying "we know about high early failure rates and this is our way of protecting you from them.  After the period of high early failure rates, the failure rate usually drops very slowly for the rest of early failure period and finally bottoms out around 1 to 5 years.  Then it starts rising as age failure starts.  Some manufacturers will give warranties that last through that period of low failure rates and pay for them with income from extended warranties which often cover the period of the very lowest failure rates.  And those failure rates really are quite low.

What amazes me, speaking as an Electronics Technologist, is not that things can break down but rather that they break down so rarely.  One of my first jobs included checking tubes in a computer.  That was in the days when maintenance hours exceeded operating hours by a good margin.  Can you imagine your computer today being in the shop for 3 weeks out of every month?  The way I look at it, if our odds of winning in Vega were as high as the odds of getting a good one when we buy a piece of electronics, we would all be rich.

Jim